Friday, September 30, 2011

My family has been making a butterscotch brownie recipe for years. I think I finally found a recipe that out does the long standing family favorite. How can this recipe go wrong...2 sticks of butter, coconut and pecans!!!!! Hide your bathroom scales!!!!

In a large bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar for 3 minutes. Add butter and vanilla;mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the brownsugar mixture, beating just until blended. Stir in pecans, coconut and whitechocolate.

Spread into a greased 9" x 13" baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 - 40minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs( do not over-bake ). Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Monday, September 26, 2011

My family minus my husband (he couldn't come) all went to the Indian Peace Treaty in my home town, Medicine Lodge, Kansas. The pageant commemorates the great Peace Council of 1867 between the U.S. Government and the Plains Indians. It is a action-packed weekend of reenactments, rodeos, parades and Indian dances that they put on every three years. My Mom and Dad hosted all their kids and a majority of the grand kids and great grand kids. It was total pandemonium and it was wonderful!

We all went to the parade on Saturday. I loved it but my granddaughter Rowan really loved it because she found out that parade floats sometimes throw out candy. She was in sugar highheaven!We got to see a wagon train go down main street.

There were Indian dances.

The usual 0ld cars and trucks.

One of my highlights was seeing my old band instructor Jim Schnoebelen leading the alumni MLHS band. They sounded amazing!

An ox cart

A Cowboy and his sidekick.

We had a great time and I am paying for it today....sooooo tired. You know how family weekends are...lots of food, talk, games and little sleep. ZzzzzZzzzZzzzz

Monday, September 19, 2011

I was invited by Merrily Parker to come to her shop in Springfield Missouri "Merrily We Quilt Along" to teach a workshop. I was excited to come because I remembered her the first time I met her. My maiden name is Parker and it was easy to remember her name. Her shop is lovely! At one end is a tea shop which has desserts to die for (literally). They provided our delicious lunch. Next to that is the large quilting machines. You can even rent one to finish your own quilt. Then there are all the wonderful Berninas for sale. Following that is the quilt shop with all the fabric that you will want to buy. Then at the far end of the shop is a classroom with its own entrance. That was really handy because we had our usual workshop haul to bring in and it was raining. Holly, her daughter, was helping us which was amazing because she had a hurt arm. I hope the arm gets better soon!

It rained all night before and all day which is wonderful for so many reasons in our dry area! I think a rainy day is a great excuse to sew, read, or bake and we SEWED! These girls were on a mission and they got a lot done. I was so impressed.

Charley Benton who worked in the shop made my Snowday Sewday pattern up for the shop and I just love it! She used Shagged Shannon Fabrics for the earmuffs and the stocking cap. She also used Benartex Minkee on the star to give it more of a 3-D effect. She did each of the snowmen in a bright color. I did my two versions more traditional with 3-4 main colors so this is a great look.

I even got to hit some antique shops on the way home. What a great trip!

I found this signature quilt above. If only I could meet all the ladies that signed their names to this quilt to know what is the history behind it .

Monday, September 12, 2011

This year I am ahead of schedule. There is always a first for everything! I got my Halloween Village out for the first time in 4 years. Why you say....because I have a captive audience. My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter Rowan. She helped get everything out of boxes and there is a lot of boxes with these things. It was fun to see her face as we plugged each house in. Right away she was deeply disappointed that the people could not go in the houses. She wanted more people too.I had to go to the store to get a big package of C batteries and it was still not enough to light up the little accessories. We all know that accessories make the outfit...I mean the village!

The haunted house is our favorite building above.

These are her favorite trick-or-treaters. The flash light and the pumpkin light up.

I would love for John and I to dress up like this Mr and Mrs. sometime. The good thing is that my table that I use says...NO MORE HOUSES ...because there is no more space. My husband I am sure is grateful for this.

Have a great day and thank you for ALL my wonderful birthday wishes! Amy

Friday, September 9, 2011

In honor of my birthday I am giving away 5 of my Birthday patterns from my Seasoned Quilter series. One for each decade that I have been on this earth. The first five people that respond to this blog entry will get one mailed to them.

I told my family I want to spend the day sewing. The wonderful thing is that I will be working and playing at the same time!!!! Shhh...don't tell anyone my job is my playtime.

My husband has already bought me flowers and Smurf cupcakes. I think the Smurf cupcakes were more for my granddaughter Rowan. We all had blue lips yesterday after we ate them. He also took my car into get detailed. That is what I wanted for my birthday. I want the weirdest things now like new gutters or car detailing!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Two posts ago I asked you if anyone knew the name of the quilt block of my new yellow quilt. I now know it is the Virginia Snowball. Yea! My brother Bill and sister-in-law Devra gave me several things for my birthday. One of the things they gave me was this old magazine "Quilts". The copyright is 1932. It is all in black and white and originally cost 15 cents.

Almost at the end of the magazine my Mom found the block. The mystery is solved. Thank you Bill, Devra and Mom!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

What is this you say.......
The golf clubs are drink swizzle sticks and on the side is a cork screw. My Grandma and Grandpa had one of these and we all played with it as kids. When it was time for the estate sale of their belongings my brother Bill and I were bidding on it without knowing we were bidding against each other. I won. The only way I could feel better about this win was to find another one. Several years ago I made amends with my brother when I gifted one to him for a present. I now have found one for my sister Julie. My search is complete. Isn't it funny how little silly sentimental things like this are more important then the big expensive piece of furniture that you inherited. It is all in the happy memories!